Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to methods and systems for advertising and particularly to methods and systems for online advertising.
Description of Related Art
As the popularity of the Internet grows, more and more individuals are eschewing traditional media sources. For example, overall newspaper readership and television viewing has decreased as users prefer to receive their news online and view television shows through websites. Such a change in media viewing habits by users has made it more difficult for manufacturers to market their products because users typically do not view manufacturer's websites and because current methods for online advertising are not effective.
Typical methods for online advertising use banners or other types of graphics to entice users. These banners either entice the user to click on them and then redirect them to a manufacturer's website, or entice them to interact with the banner through a game or other interactive content. However, both types of banners are often ineffective because they require the user to disengage from a current browsing experience, which the user typically is not inclined to do. There is, therefore, a need for new methods and systems for online advertising, particularly methods and systems that do not require users to disengage from their current browsing experience and that keep them engaged in web-based content.